Something big is about to happen on the Sun. According to measurements from NASA-supported observatories, the Sun’s vast magnetic field is about to flip. Something big is happening on the Sun. The Sun’s global magnetic field is about to flip, a sign that Solar Max has arrived. Image Credit: Science@NASA “It looks like we’re [continue reading]

During a chance encounter with an unusually strong blast of solar wind arriving at Saturn, the international Cassini spacecraft detected particles being accelerated to ultra-high energies, similar to the acceleration that takes place around supernova explosions. Saturn, the second largest planet in our Solar System. Image Credit: NASA/JPL/Space Science Institute Shock waves are commonplace in [continue reading]

Two of three key signs of changes expected to occur at the boundary of interstellar space have changed faster than at any other time in the last seven years, according to new data from NASA’s Voyager 1 spacecraft. This artist’s concept shows NASA’s two Voyager spacecraft exploring a turbulent region of space known as [continue reading]

Data from NASA’s Voyager 1 spacecraft indicate that the venerable deep-space explorer has encountered a region in space where the intensity of charged particles from beyond our solar system has markedly increased. Voyager scientists looking at this rapid rise draw closer to an inevitable but historic conclusion – that humanity’s first emissary to interstellar [continue reading]

Gamma-ray observations of a supernova remnant interacting with a molecular cloud in the outskirts of our Galaxy highlights the interplay of particle physics and particle astrophysics. Supernova Remnant Simeis 147 In the cosmos we see many examples of particle physics at work on scales that cannot be achieved in manmade, Earth-bound laboratories. One such [continue reading]